1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for smoking, and more particularly to a cigarette holder having a reservoir containing a liquid filtering agent such as water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two important types of apparatuses for smoking are a holder for cigarette and a pipe for tobacco. Function of filtering material which is contained in tobacco and does harm to smokers is often added to such apparatuses.
For the purpose of compacting the apparatus for smoking, dry material such as cotton is widely used for a filter. If the filtering is emphasized, a method of using water is applied. The examples of the type are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,785 (to Ericson et al.) and 4,253,475 (to Schreber et al.). But they have bulky and complex structure.
The hookah or water pipe has been used in the Middle East for centuries to smoke organic materials such as tobacco. Since some of these substances burn harshly, the water pipe is used to make smoking them a more palatable experience. There are many types of pipes in the prior art which have a pipe bowl, a liquid filtering agent in a closed reservoir, a smoke tube extending from the pipe bowl to a point in the reservoir and below the top surface of the filtering agent, and a stem extending from a point in the reservoir and above the top surface of the filtering agent to the user. In operation, smoke passes from the bowl through the smoke tube, through a portion of the filtering agent, through a portion of the reservoir above the top surface of the filtering agent, and through the stem to the user. Such apparatus undoubtedly did provide the function of cooling and cleansing the smoke of ash, tars and other contaminants. However, the prior art pipes generally suffer from the problem of leakage of the liquid filtering agent from the reservoir into either the smoke tube or the stem, or both, while the pipe is oriented in positions other than its normal upright position.
There have been some attempts to the solution of this leakage problem. One approach to this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,686 to Murray Jr., which is applied only to the pipe for cigarette and includes valve means which can be closed by bending a bendable stem so that leakage to the stem may be prevented, and a capillary tube or a smoke tube.
But in order to prevent leakage of the filtering agent, the capillary tube should have a length above a certain degree, which defines the height of the pipe. Therefore the pipe according to the patent is too big to be used for a cigarette holder. And in order to apply the patent to a cigarette holder, there is another trouble that the pipe should not be upright during smoking due to leakage of the filtering agent.
Since one of the advantages of cigarette is simplicity in use, the cigarette holder should be compact, which may be the most essential condition for a commercial success.